One of the world's toughest competitive exam, Union Public Service Commission (UPSC) is no easy feat. The story of how millions prep to crack it has also been documented in the National Award winning Bollywood film, 12th Fail (2023).

Having lived it is Assistant Commissioner of Police (ACP) Apurva Verma, who is currently posted at the Chittaranjan Park Police Station in Delhi, recently bagged All India Rank (AIR) 42.

The Delhi Police officer, who recently cleared the UPSC in her sixth and final attempt, says the road was filled with self belief and strategy. "Though it was my last attempt, I was very calm and relaxed while preparing," says the 29-year-old, adding, "I've been serving in the Police for years, been under situations that call for stress, logical thinking and problem solving. I just applied that knowledge that I have acquired over the years, my confidence, and what I have learned: you have to tackle challenges every day and be on your toes. That helped me grasp things quickly and add a practical aspect to my knowledge."

But her journey wasn't sans moments of self doubt. She recalls, "The self-belief and calmness never went away. The biggest challenge was the randomness and spontaneity of my job. Continuity and discipline are the most important things if you want to ace any exam, and that was difficult given the nature of my job. Sometimes I used to stay out at night attending to a heinous crimes, sometimes spend the entire day managing a protest... I often had sleepless nights. There were times when I felt, 'Kya main yeh kar sakti hun?' 'Why am I doing this? When many negative thoughts would come in between, I thought may be I should just focus on my job... Itni mehnat mujhse nahi hogi! Then it was all about accepting the doubts and not letting it settle in while continuing to work hard."

When on duty her strategy was not to miss out on the crucial moments of exam prep. "I used to study on my iPad. Sometimes I would be out on patrolling, or at a place where I would be in my uniform so it wasn't possible to take out a copy and start writing in front of everyone. So, I focused more on listening to video lectures," she adds.

Soldering her belief and 'can do' attitude was her husband, Kaushik Mangera. "He is in the civil services too, and works with the Indian Railway Traffic Service. He is the one who was of great support... One can only do one thing at a time: either planning or execution. So while I focused on the execution part, my husband used to plan for me, which helped me immensely."

Her success, she says, is inspirational but there is no one trick to clear the UPSC. "Everyone's journey, aptitude, competence, and motivation are unique," she says, adding, "We should not stereotype or fix ourselves in a particular mould thinking, 'They did it so will I' or the other way round. First of all, any aspirant needs to identify their strengths and weaknesses and then get to matching these with the requirement of the exam or for that matter any other life challenge or goal. Then one needs to keep moving forward. Difficulties will arise, but you have to continue. Always remember that hard work never goes waste!"